Pubdate: Fri, 03 Nov 2017
Source: Metro (Calgary, CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Metro Canada
Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/Calgary
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4471
Author: Lucie Edwardson
Page: 12
POT COMMITTEE CREATED
Feds plan to legalize recreational pot by July 2018
The day of cannabis legalization looms over local governments and law
enforcement - including Calgary police - but they're taking it in stride.
At the October Calgary Police Commission meeting, CPS chief Roger
Chaffin said the best time to know the exact legislation to come on
July 1 would have been "in the past," but said they're already taking
steps to address legalization now.
The province's cannabis framework, released in early October, proposes
Albertans will have to be at least 18 years old to buy pot from the
specialized retail stores selling it.
In the lead up to legalization, Staff Sgt. Jason Walker said CPS has
created a "cannabis sub-committee."
The sub-committee is made up of subject matter experts, legal experts,
the traffic unit, educators and human resource representatives.
"Right now the most intuitive piece about cannabis legalization that
we know policing has skin in the game is traffic/ drug-impaired
driving - and around HR," said Walker.
He said once recreational marijuana is legal, the questions arise if
sworn members will be allowed to use, and if so, under what
circumstances.
"We have the responsibility to ensure members are ready for duty and
healthy and those are the two areas right now, so we've got our HR
people right now who are supported by the legal folks to figure out
how that will look," he said.
Walker said they're working closely with the city to also understand
how each organization will work together and what their roles will
be.
Chaffin said there's also the question of equipment for checking
drug-impaired driving once cannabis is legalized.
He said the federal government is currently looking at devices, and
have narrowed it down to two, but it's not yet known how expensive
they'll be.
"Federal government has indicated they're aware of these large cost
elements and that they want to help local policing with those costs,"
he said.
"We just haven't heard any of those details yet."
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MAP posted-by: Matt